Lubricator



2 Sheets-Sheet l J. THIRION LUBRICATOR Dec. .27, 1949 Filed March 16, 1945 iuucw-rok.

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LUBRICATOR Filed March 16, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ifmaues THWJQN.

y H MM h Patented Dec. 27, 1949 LUBRICATOR Jacques Thirion, Rouen, France Application March 16, 1945, Serial No. 583,118

In France April '7, 1944 3 Claims. (01. 184-45) 'It is known that the viscosity of greases is very variable, not only according to the various qualities of grease, but also, for a given quality, according to the temperature conditions. It is for this reason that it has been found in practice that lubricators .operating by means of the expansion of a spring, although they can be provided with known devices causing the cross section of the outflow orifice to vary in reverse ratio to the stress exerted by the spring in proportion to its expansion, do not give entire satisfaction, if the device regulating the outflow is not completed by a correcting device.

Various correcting devices are known, in particular those acting on the tension of the spring and those allowing the area of the outflow orifice to be modified by the addition of a needle or cock. The first have the inconvenience of allowing insufiicient correction and the second, of being practically inoperative, because they substitute a fixed outlet orifice for an orifice of variable section.

The present invention has for its object, a correcting device, applicable to lubricators for stifi lubricant, characterised by the fact that it acts on the grease outlet orifice and in that it comprises a double adjustment, one of which is effected by the longitudinal movement in the orifice of a valve movable with the piston and the other is effected by lateral movement of said valve in said orifice.

An embodiment of the device forming the subject-matter of the invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a longitudinal section of a lubricator for stifi lubricant provided with the device according to the invention, partly broken away.

Fig. 2 is a detail view, on an enlarged scale, of a part of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section through a plane projected along A-A of Fig. 2.

Figs. 4 and 5 are diagrammatic views of a modification of the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3.

Fig. 6 is an explanatory graph of the double adjustment.

In Fig. 1, l denotes the piston of the lubricator, 2 the spring which acts on said piston, 3 the refilling orifice. 4 is a grease delivery nozzle in which is located a tube 5, rigid with piston I; said tube is slotted as shown in Fig. 3, the interior forming a hollow of rectangular cross section, in which is slidably housed a valve 6 of trapezoidal cross section. In this valve is arranged at 1 an operating rod 8, terminated at its lower 'endin a head 9 opposite end in order to be actuated by the milled knob H). A- spring I3 is interposed between the bottom of piston l and the shoulder I of the valve 6. Valve 6 can thus be moved longitudinally, which modifies the section of the orifice ab for the passage of the grease for a=given position of piston I, and constitutes the first adjustment.

- On the other hand, the adjusting screws H and l2,partly. housed in tappings formed in valve 8, project outside said valve to take a bearing on the inner wall'of tube 5. As the. orifice perforatedin shoulder 1 for the passage of rod 8 is substantially larger; than the diameter of said rod, it will'be understood that it sufiices to adjust screw H and 12 in order to cause valve 6 to inclinemore or less relatively to the rod 8, an abutment l3a on the lower portion of the valve forming a fulcrum; the variation of section ab offered to the flow of the grease will be so much more important as the valve 6 is more inclined inwardly, which constitutes the second adjustment. Head 9 might for the same purpose, be pivoted on valve 6.

The above-described device is particularly applicable to apparatus; in small relatively large sized apparatus, it seems preferable to use the modification illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, in which ,the adjusting members can be easily taken apart.

In the centre of piston I is provided a cylindrical housing l4, intended to receive the member l5 forming the valve; said member I5 is shown, in Fig. 4, only in half-section, the other half-section showing the same member in a different position. The tail-piece l6 of member I5 is screw threaded in order to screw into the corresponding tapping of housing Hi. The profile of valve I5 is of trapszoidal shape with a slope suited to the adjustment to be obtained. The nozzle I1 is perforated with an orifice of corresponding section, within which the valve I5 can longitudinally move.

The rectangular cross section of the adjustment orifice, as well as that of the valve, is considered as a feature of the invention, as it allows a linear variation of the section in function of the stroke, whereas, in the case of a circular section, wholly or in part, for instance, said variation is no longer linear; in other words, the rate of variation is constant in the case of the rectangular section, whereas it varies with the stroke in the case of a circular or partly circular section.

The output is adjusted by more or less screwing the valve in the housing II, for the first adjustment. As regards the second adjustment, it is ef fected by replacing the valve by another of different slope. Fig. 5 illustrates a set of interchangeand screw threaded at the- 3 able valves, the profiles of which can be rectilinear, as illustrated, or curved.

According to the necessities of construction, the valve l5, whilst remaining capable of being taken apart, can have only one fixed position; in this case, it is the nozzle I! which will be vertically displaced to eifect the adjustment.

The diagram of Fig. 6 graphically shows the area of the orifice offered to the passage of the grease for various positions of the valve for a given setting: on the left portion for a valve longitudinally moved under the action of the first adjustment; on the right portion, for the same valve, also longitudinally moved under the efiect of the first adjustment, but with a difierent inclination given by the second adjustment; the figures inscribed opposite the rectilinear portions, such as c d, the length of which corresponds to the area of the orifice ofiered are relatively proportional to the area of said sections. It is to be understood that although no correction is effected by the spring, the lubricators provided with this device can be mounted with more or less powerful springs according as more or-less stiff lubricants are to be used, as the device abovedescribed allows selecting the profile of the valve in accordance with the features of the various springs.

In the case of prolonged use of grease of corrstant quality the second adjustment might, for instance, be effected for the period of said use,

the first adjustment being modified at will accord-' ing to the temperature conditions.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by'Letters Patent is: v

l. A'lubricator comprising a casing having an outlet orifice, a spring-pressed piston movable in said casing, a slotted tube carried by said piston to reciprocate longitudinally in said orifice, a valve of trapezoidal shape within said tube, means for adjusting said valve longitudinally within said outlet orifice to vary the cross-sectional area of said orifice and means for adjusting the inclinations of said valve relative to the tube to further vary the cross-sectional area of said orifice.

2. A lubricator comprising a casing having an outlet orifice, a spring-pressed piston movable in said casing, a slotted tube carried by said piston reciprocable longitudinally in said orifice, a

trapezoidal shaped valve within said tube adjacent said orifice, a rod carrying said valve and means for adjusting said rod to move said valve longitudinally with respect to said tube and orifice, and means for adjusting the inclination of said valve relative to said tube and rod.

3. A lubricator as in claim 2 having an abutment at the lower end of the valve engaging a wall of the tubeand adjustable abutments carried by the upper end of said valve adapted to be engaged with a wall of said tube to vary the inclination of said valve relative to said tube.

JACQUES THIRION.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

